The First Cut Is the Deepest

Newsweek, July, 2002 by -CATHARINE SKIPP

As state governments look to cut their budgets, the necessity of one ancient procedure has been increasingly called into question. Seven states have terminated public funding for circumcisions, and last week the North Carolina state Senate moved to pass on to the House a budget without the nearly $2 million in state and federal funds normally set aside for the procedure. Many medical experts say circumcision is a purely cosmetic operation, and legislators in favor of the budget cut claim the money would be better spent on, say, home care for the disabled. But advocates point out that circumcision may lower a man's risk of contracting HIV and the rate of cervical cancer for his partner. "The cost of the procedure outweighs the cost down the road in risk of infection and other...

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